"Take the Long Way Home" is the third US single and sixth track of English rock band

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

's 1979 album ''

Breakfast in America ''Breakfast in America'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released by A&M Records on 29 March 1979. It was recorded in 1978 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles. It spawned four US ''Billboard'' hit singles: "The ...

''. It was the last song written for the album, being penned during the nine-month recording cycle. In 1980, the live version from ''

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

'' became a minor hit in various European countries.

Background

According to its composer

Roger Hodgson Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of progressive rock band Supertramp. Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’ ...

, the song deals with how the desire to go home can go both ways:

I'm talking about not wanting to go home to the wife, take the long way home to the wife because she treats you like part of the furniture, but there's a deeper level to the song, too. I really believe we all want to find our home, find that place in us where we feel at home, and to me, home is in the heart and that is really, when we are in touch with our heart and we're living our life from our heart, then we do feel like we found our home."

This was the last song composed for ''Breakfast in America''.

Reception

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'' magazine contributor David Farrell praised the "convincing melody with a crafty hook", although he felt the music contrasted with the "pessimistic lyric about man's loss of identity in an increasingly complex world." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a bouncy, uptempo number, laden with pop-symphonic instrumentals, highpitched vocals and harmonies and a jaunty harmonic figure" ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Nick DeRiso rated it as Supertramp's 8th best song. Gary Graff of ''

'' rated "Take the Long Way Home" as Supertramp's 7th best song, noting its "bouncy melody awash with keyboards" and the "rich sax-and-

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

exchange between ohnHelliwell and ickDavies." The single reached number 10 on the U.S. charts "Take the Long Way Home" chart history Billboard.com. Retrieved 25 January 2012. and number 4 in the Canadian charts.

Charts

Personnel

— vocals, piano, electric guitar *

Rick Davies Richard Davies (born 22 July 1944) is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs ...

— harmonica,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, synthesizers *

Dougie Thomson Douglas 'Doogie' Campbell Thomson (born 24 March 1951) is a Scottish musician, born in Glasgow and raised in the Rutherglen area of the city. He was the bass guitarist of progressive rock band Supertramp during much of the seventies and eight ...

— bass guitar * Bob C. Benberg — drums, tambourine *

John Helliwell John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician, best known as the saxophonist, secondary keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional songwriter for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's ...

— synthesizer, clarinet solo

Other versions

* The band

Trixter Trixter is an American glam metal band from Paramus, New Jersey. The band achieved major success in the early 1990s with their top hit, "Give It To Me Good" reaching sixty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. The band disbanded for several ye ...

included a version of the song on their 1994 release '' Undercovers''. * Alternative rock band

Lazlo Bane Lazlo Bane is an alternative rock band from Santa Monica, California, United States. They are well known for collaborating with former Men at Work member Colin Hay, and providing the song "Superman (Lazlo Bane song), Superman" as the theme for t ...

covered the song for their 2007

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Guilty Pleasures''.

References

External links

Supertramp - Take the Long Way Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Take the Long Way Home (Supertramp song) 1979 singles 1970s ballads Supertramp songs Songs written by Roger Hodgson Rock ballads A&M Records singles